Community watch member administers live-saving CPR

Aug. 22, 2013

Dale Clements, right, talks to Mike Reidl and his wife, Dena Reidl, Wednesday at an awards presentation for Clements at Lancaster Fire Department Engine House One. Clements performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Mike in a Wendy's in July and saved his life. / Jess Lanning/Eagle-Gazette

Written by

Francesca Sacco

The Eagle-Gazette Staff

Mike Reidl, left, presents an award from the Snider Community Heart Watch and the Gordon B. Snider Cardiovascular Institute to Dale Clements Wednesday at Lancaster Fire Department Engine House One.

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LANCASTER — If it had happened anywhere else, Mike Reidl is sure he would be dead.

On July 25, Reidl, of East Sparta, his wife, his daughter, her husband and their four children stopped at the Wendy’s on North Memorial Drive to grab a bite to eat before heading to Hocking Hills for the day. At 11 a.m., while eating french fries, Reidl passed out.

Thankfully, Dale Clements was seated nearby.

“Mike was sitting across from me with his back to me and he just fell over in his chair,” said Clements, 76, of Rushville. “I asked his family if he was choking and his family said, ‘No.’ I told my son that was with me to grab him by his arms and I grabbed him by his feet. ... I said we got to get him on the floor.”

Once Reidl was on the floor, Clements began to perform CPR.

“I continued until the squad came,” he said. “I’d say I performed CPR for about eight minutes.”

Clements said Reidl turned blue at one point.

“So I started the compressions harder and faster,” he said. “But I knew he was safe once I heard the sirens.”

After the medics took over and revived Reidl, Clements turned his attention to Reidl’s family.

“I had the family follow me to the hospital,” he said.

Clements is a member of the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office community watch program. A few weeks before the incident, he had renewed his CPR certification.

Lancaster Fire Department Capt. Brian Archer, who serves as the department’s CPR instructor, said it is rare for first responders to find someone on the scene lending a hand.

“It’s nice to see that,” Archer said. “CPR makes all the difference.”

After a relatively short stay in two hospitals, and the use of a defibrillator, Reidl learned he had a weak heart muscle.

“I died. I wasn’t conscious,” he said.

Reidl said he was unaware of the problem and thought he was in good health.

“It came out of the blue,” he said.

As soon as he was released, Reidl said he began to look for the man who had saved his life.

“If I had been anywhere else, I would have died,” he said. “All the stars lined up. ... I wanted to meet him. Thank him.”

With the help of Fairfield Medical Center staff members, Reidl learned that Clements was set to be recognized by the sheriff’s office and FMC for his heroic actions.

As the men stood face to face for the first time Wednesday, the emotions of the past few weeks came to a head. Reidl and his wife, Dena, couldn’t thank Clements enough.

“If it would have been anywhere else, the results wouldn’t have been the same,” Dena Reidl said. “I can’t thank him enough.”

Clements, surprised and overwhelmed by the day’s events, said he was humbled and proud to do a service for someone else.

“There is no greater service than to save someone’s life,” he said. “It was worth all the training.”